


Ridiculous Haircut

by docmatthew



Series: The Stories of Young Henry Standing Bear & Walt Longmire [1]
Category: Longmire (TV), Walt Longmire Mysteries - Craig Johnson
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, Vietnam War, Wartime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7053952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/docmatthew/pseuds/docmatthew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Honestly Walt Longmire never thought weather could be worse than a bad Wyoming winter until he felt a bad Vietnam summer. It was the kind of heat that water could not help and the dirt kick up stuck to bodies because of the pure humidity in the air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ridiculous Haircut

**Author's Note:**

> I...haveno idea what this is or if its good in character or what. But I had this idea, and I really like writing wartime stories. I got the information about their military careers from the books. Sorry if I got something wrong. I'm not 100% about this story because I like it...but at the same time it doesn't feel right? I'm not sure but I may write more wartime Walt/Henry stuff 'cause I have a few more ideas.
> 
> Special thanks to the_widow_twankey for correcting my misuse of a very important word in this story.

Honestly Walt Longmire never thought weather could be worse than a bad Wyoming winter until he felt a bad Vietnam summer. It was the kind of heat that water could not help and the dirt kick up stuck to bodies because of the pure humidity in the air. Walt felt sticky, dirty, and sure he looked it. The dirt stuck to his neck and face making him look darker than the tan the sun had given him. He was perched on the driver’s side of his jeep, MP helmet placed on the passenger seat, and an empty water canteen in hand on the gun resting on his lap. He was exceptionally glad that he was on his own down time as he was sure that he couldn’t move a single muscle for lack of energy at the moment.

  
The unit of MPs he was in charge of was guarding an area that was a temporary encampment for various retreating groups. They had been working day and night in the miserable weather for a week now. Walt hoped someone else would come and take over so his men could have a rest. And himself. His eyes opened a little so he could look down at his service dog to make sure the military trained German Shepard was okay in this heat. If he was hot he couldn’t imagine what Sherlock was feeling. He had parked his jeep just right so that the vehicle cast a shadow over the spot where the dog slept. More than half his canteen had been dedicated to Sherlock, and while they had water reserves Walt did not want to get up to go find some.

  
The time he was given to recharge was small but he was grateful. Even the far off sounds of guns, bullets, and artillery couldn’t make him flinch. The promise of his favorite book in his pack in the back seat wasn’t even worth moving for now. He knew he was nearing the end of his ‘relaxation period’ and wanted just another twenty minutes to not move but of course before his time was even up he heard one of his men calling out for him.

  
“Walt?” The young man who had been by Walt’s side for some time now came up to the Jeep in a bit of a tizzy, but not a frightened tizzy that often came with him.

  
“What is it, Arlington?” Walt tried his damn best to look a bit more presentable to his second in command but he just could not bring himself to sit up anymore. “I still have thirteen minutes left before I have to get up.”

  
“Nah, sir. It ain’t that.” Arlington was practically bouncing, and his speech was super speed in a way that annoyed Walt when they were under fire and he got too excited. The lack of proper speech patterns was also tough to deal with but Walt accepted a long time ago that the young Oklahoman boy just never learned how to properly speak.

  
“Then what?” Now Walt was getting impatient and he tried to even out because it was hot and everyone was exhausted but if Arlington wouldn’t just give up whatever excitement he had right now Walt would hit him. _Hard_.

  
“Ya’re from Wyomin’, yeah?” Arlington knew where he was from but Walt managed a curt nod and a little eye roll at the ‘g’ dropping. “Ya said ya gotta buddy from back ‘ome ovah ‘ere somewhere. In Special Forces…the one tha’ writes ya all da time?” Arlington was already grabbing Walt’s helmet and pulling him out of the Jeep.

  
“What’re you saying, Arlington?” Walt refused to move until he got answers.

  
“I jus’ saw the 5th SFG rollin’ through, ya know. And I ovah heard a fella talking ‘bout Wyomin’. Figured he might be yer bud.” Arlington said with extreme happiness. “Indian, fella right? ‘Ad to be this fella. I kno’ wha’ Indians look like, Walt, ya know. It ‘as ta be him.”

  
Arlington didn’t have to say anything more than ‘5th SFG’ to get Walt moving. 5th Special Forces Group was the unit Henry was serving in. Just the small chance this could be Henry had him moving faster than he had all week. He had his helmet on, Sherlock’s leash in hand, and he was about to start sprinting but realized he had no idea where this possible Henry could be.

  
“Where’d you see him?” Walt said in his paused frenzy, grabbing his pack from the back seat.

  
“Jus’ up da road. ‘E was in a Jeep. Drvin’ but I saw ‘em stop ‘bout quart ways up.” Arlington pointed in the right direction. “I kno’ they stoppin’ for bit ‘cause I spoke to da comandin' officer ‘bout where ‘is boys could rest an’ get some watah.” Arlington explained in more detail than Walt cared for. “If it ya boy then ‘ake some extrah time. I got yer shift.” He said as he patted Walt’s back. Finally with direction Walt took off.

  
For a man who hadn’t wanted to move for life saving water five minutes ago he was moving pretty quick through the haze of soldiers. His heart was beating hard but not because of the running. The prospect of seeing Henry after not seeing him since they both left for boot camp in completely different places made him swell happily. It could have honestly been anyone that Arlington saw but the fact that Arlington knew Henry was Indian and could pick an Indian out pretty easy since he grew up between two different Res’s in Oklahoma made Walt pretty confident in this.

  
He started to slow, Sherlock never faltering by his side as he jogged. He was searching each person’s shoulder for the patch that would declare them 5th SFG. The black patch with the yellow and red stripes. Finally he came up on a group of them but not a single one could have been Henry, and his heart started to sink. He was about to ask someone about his friend when he heard the familiar voice dancing through the air. No contractions in his speech which was such a favorable contrast to Arlington’s speech that Walt’s heart flipped four times. He turned and saw Henry for the first time in too long. Henry was standing next to a Jeep speaking with his commanding officer. Walt caught his breathe before walking up to them.

  
The dopey smile on his face couldn’t be washed away even if he was struck by a stray bullet right now. Walt had never shown a lot of expression, especially since he entered the Marines but Henry could pull a smile from him easily. There was a hundred witty, clever, or funny things he could have said but the moment that Henry removed his Green Beret and Walt caught sight of just how short Henry’s hair was he couldn’t help what tumbled out of his mouth.

  
“Sergeant,” Walt spoke with his best authority voice. “I’m gonna have to arrest you.” Of course Henry recognized that voice right off. The gruff, stern sound being as familiar as his own voice. He turned to look at Walt but never broke face. He looked very seriously at his friend.

  
“And why is that…” Henry asked with narrowed eyes while his CO looked beyond confused. “Sir?” He tagged on at the end after a pause just be to be sarcastic.

  
“That haircut.” Walt couldn’t keep his face straight and finally smiled again. “It’s simply ridiculous.” Walt had his hands firmly on his hips, still trying to pretend to be serious but his smile betrayed that.

  
They could have said more. Kept pretending but not seeing each other in over a year had made this more urgent than either realized until they saw each other. They broke down and Walt stepped forward and Henry finally cracked a smile. They hugged. It wasn’t a brief-pat-on-the-back-man-hug. It was a full force hug that had it taken either by surprise would have knocked them over. It took a moment but they finally peeled away from each other like double sided tape but they kept their hands on each other’s shoulders.

  
“I have never seen your hair so short, Henry. Can’t believe you let them do that to you.” Walt teased, even reached up to ruffle said short hair.

  
“Your hair is nearly as bad.” Henry shot back but knew his lack of long black hair had to have been more of a shock then the few short inches of sandy blond that Walt had lost.

  
“Can I assume my sergeant isn’t actually under arrest, Captain?” The commanding officer, who looked wildly unimpressed and sounded like he was from New York spoke up finally. Walt blinked as if startled out of a dream. To be honest everything had melted away when he saw Henry. He forgot they were in a war with other people around them.

  
“No,” Walt looked at Henry’s captain. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say other than that but Henry always had something to say and saved him.

  
“This is Walt Longmire,” Henry directed at his officer. “A longtime friend from home. Walt, this is Captain Edward Holland.” Walt awkwardly reached out a dirty hand to shake the other officer’s hand. There was an intense moment between them but eventually Holland relented.

  
“Henry…don’t get into trouble. I’m going to find some food and water.” Holland informed Henry, who nodded. “Don’t forget to get some yourself, and rest in the shade. We don’t get a lot of time to ourselves.” With those brisk orders Holland let go of Walt’s hand and took off.

  
As soon as the man was gone Walt looked back over at his friend who was looking at him. They stared at each other for a while before they realized that they needed to move, or do something before it looked too strange to interlopers. Walt dropped his hand from Henry’s shoulder, put them back on his hip and looked down.

  
“You have a dog.” Henry observed with a small smile.

  
“Sherlock.” Walt informed Henry of his dog’s name and the German Shepard perked up, looking at Walt like he was everything. To the dog he probably was in the war zone.

  
“Sherlock?” Henry raised an eyebrow at his friend. “And you called my haircut Ridiculous?” Walt just shrugged shyly, and Henry shook his head lightly. “Show me to food and water, Walt. We have been out for some time now.”

  
“Right. C’mon.” Walt waved for him to follow and started walking towards the MP encampment instead of the mess area. Henry frowned slightly at this but figured Walt wouldn’t let him go much longer without food and water in this environment.

  
Walt stepped down into the encampment and found it mostly empty except for two of his men who had just come off shift. They were sprawled out on the ground, backs against the small retaining wall and feet up on their helmets. They both shot eyebrows up when a Green Beret walked into their turf but realized he was with their Captain.

  
“Feeding strays ‘gain, Captain.” The one on the right called out as Walt filled Henry’s canteen with water from their own source. Henry looked over at the two men who didn’t look pleased to see him but also weren’t being too hostile. They were Marines and Henry was Army. The rivalry wasn't anything new to either side but Walt still didn't like the way his men were speaking about Henry.

  
“Not a stray.” Walt commented as he handed Henry back his canteen. He looked at Henry again, memorizing his face because so much had changed.

  
“Looks like a stray, sir.” The other man shot back but didn’t seem bothered enough to actually say much more than that.

  
“His name’s Henry.” Walt said as he filled his own canteen. “Henry, these are Collin Wentworth and Derek Hill.” They waved halfheartedly as their names were called. “They’ve been under my command for a little over a year now.” Walt didn’t know why he felt the need to tell Henry about these two but it filled the uneasy silence. No uneasy because of Henry but because of the two men he had seen every day for the last year and two months.

  
“Hello.” Henry offered a small smile but nothing was returned.

  
“Wentworth, Hill…I think they could use some help in the mess.” Walt bristled and both man looked like a bolt hit them. “Perhaps you should see to that instead of laying around.” Walt had no right to call them out on what he had been doing not so long ago but they were being rude to Henry and Walt wasn’t about to let that slide.

  
“Sir…” Hill sat up and was about to protest but one look from Walt had them getting up in a hurry. They grabbed their gear and shot out of the MP encampment.

  
“Walt.” Henry looked at his friend hard. “You did not have to do such a thing.” Which was true but Walt shook his head as he got some food out.

  
“You out rank them both, and they were rude.” Walt pointed out. “I won’t have that.” Henry shook his head and sat down next to Walt as he was handed some food. Walt gave Sherlock water and food as well.

  
For a long time they sat in silence which was just fine with both of them. They were together again, and words could wait if it meant soaking up each other’s presence. Walt took a lot of glances at his friend who looked perfectly content to stare at the him which just made Walt shy and redder in the face than his jog earlier. Then Walt caught a glance of Henry’s left arm, and saw a bandage wrapped around it, hidden under his grime covered green uniform jacket.

  
“Get yourself hurt?” Walt asked, giving the arm a pointed look. Henry blinked at Walt for a moment before realizing exactly what he was asking about.

  
“Oh. Yes.” Henry confirmed and rolled up the sleeve with not a single hint of discomfort. “Four days away. The medic was running low on supplies.” Henry explained the state of the dirty dressing, some blood had already seeped to the outside and Walt couldn’t stop from putting everything aside and grabbing an aid kit.

  
“It could get infected.” Walt said worriedly as he knelt in front of his friend and started undoing the bandage. He had taken care of Henry’s wounds in their youth. The other man had gotten into fights and brawls and scrapes so much that Walt had considered just constantly having a first aid kit with him. This was different though because he hadn’t been there to patch Henry up or even there to help fight with him.

  
“Yes. It could.” Henry didn’t argue or stop Walt from being a mother hen over him. “Our medic had no supplies, Walt. I barely have a wound, and other men had worse.” Henry told him because it was true.

  
“It’s a burn.” Walt countered as if that explained why his point was better. He carefully cleaned the burn up. “Burns get infected a lot easier, Henry. You could get seriously sick.” He sighed but Henry didn’t say a word. Just let it all happen.

  
Walt was being so careful. More careful than any first aid applied in a war zone should be. Once the wound and skin around it was clean he smothered the area in ointment before laying down a few gauze pads then gently but securely wrapping the wound up completely. Once it was all done Walt was still sitting there on his knees in front of Henry, hands carefully smoothing the bandage over the burn. He took a sharp breath in. It was a minor wound. He had no real reason to feel so worried about his friend. Then Henry’s hand was over his, and they stared at each other for what felt like years. Walt felt like drowning in Henry's dark eyes.

  
Then Walt leaned forward as did Henry and they shared a gentle kiss. Something sweet, something real. Something to take away all the pain, the distance, and not knowing. It was brief because being caught in the act here could be more dangerous than being in the jungles out there. Then Walt was hugging Henry close. He had no idea how long they stayed like that nor how he could handle Henry’s heat on his already overheated body but he managed because it was _Henry_. The sound of footsteps came as someone walked down into the MP encampment making Walt slowly pulled away and Henry sit back.

  
“Walt?” The familiar Oklahoman accent cut through their moment like a spear, and Walt knew it wasn’t his second’s fault but he still wanted to scream at the boy to leave. Henry saw the tested look on his friend’s face and laughed.

  
“Arlington.” Walt looked up from his place on the ground. He was still kneeling in front of Henry but the first aid kit next to him supplied the reasons. “What?”

  
“I kno’ I said I’d cover for ya…” Arlington paused as he looked at Henry and tipped his head to the man. “Bu’ I gotta Major out ‘ere who don’ wanna talk ta no one bu’ ya.” Arlington looked apologetic. “Uh…” He stood awkwardly but finally put his gun down and stepped up. “Sorry ta interrupt. ‘M George Arlington, Sergeant. I hope yer arm’s alrigh’.” He said as he pointed out the cleanly dressed wound but also offered to shake Henry’s hand. They were both sergeants but for all Arlington lacked in education and prose he made up for in civility and manners.

  
“Henry Standing Bear.” Henry shook the boy’s hand with a smile. “I am well now, thanks to your Captain.” Henry explained and Walt started fumbling to put the kit away.

  
“I kne’ it ‘ad ta be ya.” Arlington smiled, and Henry gave him a questioning look. “Captain Longmire told me ‘e had a good frien’ from back ‘ome tha’ was ovah here with 5th. Told me yer Cheyenne…my girl ‘ack ‘ome is Comanche …” Arlington shrugged awkwardly as he exchanged the words and Walt put away the kit, except for a few rolls of gauze.

  
“So you are from Lawton, Oklahoma?” Henry asked with a small smile on his face, keeping a conversation with the young man.

  
“Fort Sill area bu’…close 'nough. She ah tribal member so she from the Res in Lawton.” He explained and looked at his feet. “Sorry ta break up ta reunion…jus’ this Major isn’t—“

  
“Arlington, it’s alright. Go back out and I’ll be with you shortly.” Walt told him quickly before he could apologize again. Arlington nodded swiftly, took up his gun and darted out of the area. Walt sighed heavily but was smiling vaguely.

  
“Your sergeant has a Comanche girlfriend.” Henry said with amusement as they both stood up and Walt just nodded. “He seems…eager.”

  
“He’s a good kid.” Walt commented quickly. “I’m lucky to have him around. He’s done a lot for me.” He pushed the gauze rolls and ointment into Henry’s pack without asking because he knew his friend would reject the offer.

  
“I do hope…not too much.” Henry winked but didn’t mean the jab at all. Walt shook his head, and Henry rearranged his pack, letting it slide that Walt was giving him first aid supplies.

  
“No. Not too much.” Walt grabbed his canteen again, filled it and forced food into his friend’s pack just as he had the medical supplies.

  
“Walt, I do not need all of your food. What will you eat?” Henry tried to pushed away the extra meal he was being given.

  
“Henry…I have more access to food than you. Take it in case you get stranded for another four days in the jungle.” Walt said firmly. In the distance he could hear someone shouting and figured Arlington was getting abuse from that major. “You’re moving out soon?” He asked with his eyes down cast slightly.

  
“Within the hour, yes.” Henry confirmed. It was hard to see each other so suddenly but also have to part just as quick. A war waged around them and Walt didn’t care about anything except that Henry got home safe.

  
“Well…you should find your Captain.” Walt looked up at Henry and suddenly they were holding hands. Walt never wanted to let go.

  
“We will see each other again, Walt.” Henry promised in a soft voice, his eyes searching Walt’s face. “I have seen it. In visions. We will return to home.”

  
“Since when does the Thunder Spirit reside in you, Henry?” Walt worried his bottom lip.

  
“Since we parted.” Henry supplied with ease. “We will see each other again.” Anyone else saying that would have made Walt mad because no one could promise that in war time. No one could promise that any other time either. Life had a way of twisting and turning but when Henry said those words Walt believed them.

  
“If you say so, Henry.” Walt smiled.

  
“I do say so, white man.” Henry smirked back.

  
They hugged briefly and then Henry took up his gun and threw another smile over his shoulder at Walt. Henry left and Walt felt that emptiness he had been feeling for over a year without realizing. He sighed. Rubbed his forehead and grabbed his things.

  
“Sherlock.” He clicked his fingers and the dog stood. He walked back out into the hot Vietnam sun. It didn’t take long for him to find the major and Arlington. He dealt with the situation as quick as he could, wanting to maybe see Henry again before he left for lord knows where but the major wasn’t having it. It took over an hour to sort out whatever the stupid situation was and by then he heard that the 5th SFG had shoved off.

  
Walt had a permanent frown on his face for the rest of the day until he got back to his encampment and found a letter stuffed into his pack that Henry had left. Somehow Henry had gotten the damn thing into his pack without him knowing and he shook his head at his sneaky friend. He sat down with a sigh, Sherlock on one side of him and Arlington seated a few feet away with his eyes closed. Walt opened the letter with a tiny smile and started reading the words, hearing them in Henry’s voice. When he finished it he placed it along side the others in a plastic bag he had with both Henry and Martha's letters inside. Although there were more from Henry than Martha at this point even though he knew his girlfriend would be waiting for him at home if he returned. He paused… _when he got home with Henry_.


End file.
